Why not Alton Brown? This is like picking McKayla Maroney over Kerri Strug for inspiration as an Olympic Athlete. At least Brown would inspire people not only to have fun in the kitchen, but get people interested in science as well, not just yelling at people because you have a small penis.

RoxtarRyan:Why not Alton Brown? This is like picking McKayla Maroney over Kerri Strug for inspiration as an Olympic Athlete. At least Brown would inspire people not only to have fun in the kitchen, but get people interested in science as well, not just yelling at people because you have a small penis.

Because for the populace which doesn't regard cooking as a life skill everyone should possess, someone yelling obscenities is a whole lot more entertaining than breaking down the process. Alton is great, but he is for people who already want to learn how to cook, or at least cook better.

I took home etc in high school. As a guy, I like being able to cook food that I like eating. I also think sewing is a good skill to have. Why would I not want to be self-sufficient just because I'm a guy?

NeoCortex42:I took home etc in high school. As a guy, I like being able to cook food that I like eating. I also think sewing is a good skill to have. Why would I not want to be self-sufficient just because I'm a guy?

it was still a requirement when i was in school. the problem was it was too short a class period to really learn how to cook. also the teacher was old and she hadn't updated the curriculum in like 30 years. the sewing section was quite useful though, although my GF makes wedding dresses and custom dresses as a hobby/sideline so i have very little use for it anymore.

/she also does carpentry. made our bed out of left over beams from a barn raising. i just do the cooking (although she's better at that than me also, but i enjoy it more)

NeoCortex42:I took home etc in high school. As a guy, I like being able to cook food that I like eating. I also think sewing is a good skill to have. Why would I not want to be self-sufficient just because I'm a guy?

Took home ec and industrial arts during high school. Its useful to be able to bake a chicken while changing the oil in your car with tools you machined.

In our middle school home ec/cooking and wood/metal shop were all mandatory for both genders. As I recall, for the most part we all more or less enjoyed all of them to various degrees, even if it was just something different to do for a while. All skills worth knowing.

Anyone who says "taking chances is rewarded" with respect to cooking is either stupid or has never cooked. It takes science-level repetition to slowly grind out a new recipe, it's one of the few things less amenable to real creativity than doing your taxes.

You _cannot_ just randomly throw shiat together/modify recipes on a whim, unless you're only cooking for yourself and your roommate (who would otherwise not be eating at all).

The idea of taking risks paying off is incredibly important. I see the majority of students as so terrified to make a mistake they won't even try half the time. I'm not sure what we're doing to our kids as a society, but we need to change the fear of failure. I feel it may be the single most detrimental thing I see in the school system. And that is saying something.

It seems like most reality TV is just people yelling at each other in various situations. In this case an asshole chef yelling at other chefs. Others include; trainers yelling at fat people, rich 16 year olds yelling at their parents, poor 16 year olds yelling at their children, people yelling at each other about motorcycles, couponers yelling at cashiers, skanks yelling at each other, skanky housewives yelling at each other, skanky biatches stuck in a house yelling at each other, people stuck in a house yelling at each other, people waiting for buses in third world countries yelling at each other to overly dramatic music...

I aced the food part of home ec because the teacher was hot as a thousand suns and from where I sat the angled mirror she used to show the class how she was prepping something let me see right down her blouse. /csb

RoxtarRyan:Why not Alton Brown? This is like picking McKayla Maroney over Kerri Strug for inspiration as an Olympic Athlete. At least Brown would inspire people not only to have fun in the kitchen, but get people interested in science as well, not just yelling at people because you have a small penis.

Jim_Callahan:Anyone who says "taking chances is rewarded" with respect to cooking is either stupid or has never cooked. It takes science-level repetition to slowly grind out a new recipe, it's one of the few things less amenable to real creativity than doing your taxes.

You _cannot_ just randomly throw shiat together/modify recipes on a whim, unless you're only cooking for yourself and your roommate (who would otherwise not be eating at all).

you just have to know what usually tastes good with what

lemon and fish? sure. apples and pork? yup. Cayenne and brownies? not so much....

gingerjet:Its useful to be able to bake a chicken while changing the oil in your car with tools you machined.

Should be able to bake bread, make soup from near scratch (premade broth), roast a chicken, grill a hamburger, grill a steak, change oil, change sparkplugs, change a tire, check fluids and tire pressure, sew on a button, sew a hole along a seam, iron slacks, do a load of white and a load of color laundry, check fuses and replace, unclog a sink and toilet, repair a toilet, turn off water, clean tiles, mop a floor, dust furniture, make a martini, create a monthly budget, stake a tent, sharpen a knife, and change a propane tank, but probably not simultaneously though bonus points all around.

MediaAreAllHacks:The idea of taking risks paying off is incredibly important. I see the majority of students as so terrified to make a mistake they won't even try half the time. I'm not sure what we're doing to our kids as a society, but we need to change the fear of failure. I feel it may be the single most detrimental thing I see in the school system. And that is saying something.

Considering how expendable most employers consider their workers to be in the USA, fear of failure and mistakes is not only not surprising, but completely unavoidable. It doesn't take long for that kind of attitude to work its way down to the younger generation coming up. All they have to do is look at their parents stressing their way into an early grave to realize that at the first sign of weakness in the workforce, you're gonna get the shaft. Hard. So shut up, toe the line, keep on doing what's always done and hope that if there's a monumental fark up you can shift the blame someone else.

Hey I'm a guy, and my high school home ec course was great. The teacher was quite clearly mildly retarded, so on the days I bothered showing up for class it was basically an excuse to dick around for an hour. When we weren't to busy having food fights, that is.

Little_Dictator:MediaAreAllHacks: The idea of taking risks paying off is incredibly important. I see the majority of students as so terrified to make a mistake they won't even try half the time. I'm not sure what we're doing to our kids as a society, but we need to change the fear of failure. I feel it may be the single most detrimental thing I see in the school system. And that is saying something.

Considering how expendable most employers consider their workers to be in the USA, fear of failure and mistakes is not only not surprising, but completely unavoidable. It doesn't take long for that kind of attitude to work its way down to the younger generation coming up. All they have to do is look at their parents stressing their way into an early grave to realize that at the first sign of weakness in the workforce, you're gonna get the shaft. Hard. So shut up, toe the line, keep on doing what's always done and hope that if there's a monumental fark up you can shift the blame someone else.

I don't think most kids care about what adults do at all. It's all the standardized testing bullshiat. It's memorization replacing learning and stresses outcome over process.

Smeggy Smurf:Knowing how to cook makes you a much more attractive swinging dick than merely having a lot of money. Money can go away, skills never leave you. Broads love guys with skills.

This.

I am far more impressed with a guy who can clean his abode, go grocery shopping for ingredients and prepare a nice meal than I am with a guy who can hand money to waitresses. For one thing, the skills mean he has more money left over at the end of the evening and has therefore demonstrated a level of responsibility that appeals to us females from a survival-of-the-species standpoint. This male can provide. This male can learn. This male is willing to put forth more personal effort to carefully learn and perfect a skill -which is pretty essential from a romantic perspective. And for another, you don't have to drive anyplace after dinner to mate with him.

Males who can cook are clearly the better males to mate with and will produce stronger, better offspring who will be less likely to make the annual Mother's Day breakfast-in-bed into a charred abomination. So yes. I completely see why teenage boys are interested in learning to cook. Some clever mom who is tired of making dinner has explained evolutionary theory, that or 'Sex at Dawn' is their 'Twilight.'

Jim_Callahan:Anyone who says "taking chances is rewarded" with respect to cooking is either stupid or has never cooked. It takes science-level repetition to slowly grind out a new recipe, it's one of the few things less amenable to real creativity than doing your taxes.

You _cannot_ just randomly throw shiat together/modify recipes on a whim, unless you're only cooking for yourself and your roommate (who would otherwise not be eating at all).

Meh. I've modified a few recipes in my day, and they turned out more or less all right. I'll remove ingredients, add others, eyeball measurements, etc. the only thing I ever screwed up was mashed potatoes. Not enough garlic and butter, too much half and half. I cooked the rest of the half and half off and added some garlic powder, and they turned out edible.

/used honey wheat bread instead of rasin cinnamon bread for a strawberry bruchetta recipe I got off of Queer Eye//it was delicious///I don't really like to cook

I think Ramsey's basically said that him yelling at people is just for TV and if you actually tried to run a restaurant like that you'd be broke in months because everyone would either quit or stab you in the back and then quit.

Jim_Callahan:Anyone who says "taking chances is rewarded" with respect to cooking is either stupid or has never cooked. It takes science-level repetition to slowly grind out a new recipe, it's one of the few things less amenable to real creativity than doing your taxes.

You _cannot_ just randomly throw shiat together/modify recipes on a whim, unless you're only cooking for yourself and your roommate (who would otherwise not be eating at all).

Jim_Callahan I respect and appreciate the bulk of your posts but this one I have to disagree with. In baking yes, it is much an exact science, very unforgiving and not open to experimentation. As for meal prep/cooking I find the skies the limit. The rare time I do use a recipe it is to give me direction to the town i want to get to, but i usually miss the turn-off by several miles. If it makes a difference, I'm a seasoned old cook with many a meal under my belt (and hanging horribly over me belt, too!) so years of playing with spices and ingredients probably gives me the confidence to act like a monkey in the kitchen.